Souhan: The Sam Darnold slide has arrived. How will the Vikings handle it?

JACKSONVILLE, FLA. — The Vikings are 7-2 because their coaches delayed the Sam Slide.

They are trending in the wrong direction because the Sam Slide has finally arrived.

Sam Darnold’s pattern as a starting quarterback for the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers was clear: He could perform well for a few weeks, maybe a month, and then would collapse like a battered levee in a hurricane.

Through seven games and two months as a Viking, Darnold had thrown 14 touchdown passes and five interceptions — statistics that Patrick Mahomes would envy. Darnold was the Comeback Player of the Year, and was positioning Kevin O’Connell to be Coach of the Year.

Now Sam is, however belatedly, sliding. Sunday at Jacksonville, he threw three interceptions and had a fourth nullified by a penalty. He hadn’t thrown three interceptions in a game since 2021.

Darnold produced zero touchdowns, and the Vikings won 12-7, only because their defense turned Jacksonville backup Mac Jones, playing because of an injury to Trevor Lawrence, into a quivering puddle of melted Jell-O.

The defense, thanks in part to the return of linebacker Blake Cashman, was dominant. Tight ends T.J. Hockenson and Josh Oliver were dynamic. Running back Aaron Jones averaged 5.2 yards per carry and insisted on returning after taking a brutal hit to the ribs.

The Vikings could celebrate a lot of football heroes after a game like this, but all of those performances were almost erased by the mistakes of their most important player.

Even in victory, the Vikings are trending in the wrong direction. This was their fourth consecutive problematic performance.

They lost to the Lions in a high-quality shootout. They lost to the Rams as their offense faltered in the second half.

They played better offensively in those two losses than they did in their past two victories, which would have led to a Darnold demotion if the Vikings had a palatable option.

In the past two games, Darnold has thrown five interceptions, and all five prompted the same question: “What were you seeing — or thinking?”

“I’ve got to do a lot better job of taking care of the football,” Darnold said. “I think that’s obvious. And just being situationally aware.”

Not all interceptions are created equal. Some are the result of well-calculated risks. Some serve the same purpose as punts.

What you can’t do if you’re Darnold is give away points. Sunday, Darnold gave away so many points that just about any NFL quarterback other than Jones would have capitalized.

After the game, O’Connell indicated that he never considered benching Darnold. That’s the right decision for now, in part because the Vikings could easily win their next two games — against Tennessee and the collapsing Bears — even if Darnold continues to implode.

The Jaguars team that intercepted him three times entered the game with two interceptions. This was not Darnold being harassed into mistakes, or having Deion Sanders-like cornerbacks stealing quality passes. This was Darnold making bad decisions and compounding them with bad accuracy.

All three of his interceptions resulted from passes to star receiver Justin Jefferson. On the first, Jefferson was well covered, and Darnold’s pass was popped into the air for a linebacker to catch. On the second, Jefferson appeared to be open in the end zone, and Darnold’s pass was low and behind him. His third interception was simply a terrible throw.

What’s alarming is that Darnold is faltering even with Hockenson in the lineup. Sunday, Hockenson caught eight of nine targets for 72 yards. Between Jefferson, Hockenson, Aaron Jones, Jordan Addison, Jalen Nailor and the suddenly surging Oliver, Darnold has as many weapons as any quarterback in the NFL with the exception of Lamar Jackson and Jared Goff.

In the past, Darnold would play well for a few weeks, regress and lose his job.

This year, the Vikings are invested in coaching him through his collapse.

This will be the greatest test of O’Connell’s still-young head coaching career.

Can O’Connell coach Slidin’ Sam Darnold to play like someone other than Slidin’ Sam Darnold?

The answer to that question will determine this team’s fate.